


speak now

by xogray



Series: percabeth oneshots [48]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Break Up, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love Confessions, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28564011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xogray/pseuds/xogray
Summary: “if anyone objects this couple being joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”a tense silence fell over the crowd and piper’s words from earlier echoed in her head.today’s your last chance.annabeth’s lips parted as her mouth fell open with a million unspoken words. thiswasher last chance and she couldn't move.- or the one in which percy (almost) marries the wrong girl
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Percy Jackson
Series: percabeth oneshots [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839274
Comments: 9
Kudos: 127





	speak now

**Author's Note:**

> taylor swift x percabeth agenda stans rise

annabeth frowned, looking at herself in the mirror. “do you think i look okay?” she asked, tilting her head.

“hot enough to steal the groom.”

“piper!” she exclaimed, smacking the girl’s arm. “don’t say that shit, oh my god.”

piper finished drying her hands and looked at annabeth. “i’m not wrong,” she said. then, more seriously, she added, “are you really not gonna tell him? today’s your last chance.”

annabeth double-checked that the bathroom door was locked before leaning against the wall with a heavy sigh. “i can’t. it’s his wedding.”

“his wedding that he doesn’t even want!” piper argued. “percy has always said he wanted a small beach wedding. and now there are over 200 people here.”

“because he loves rachel enough to give her the wedding she wanted.”

“no, because rachel’s dad is paying for the wedding and percy has no say.”

which was true. because percy had complained to annabeth about how extravagant their wedding was becoming many times. even rachel herself wasn’t keen on such a big wedding but her father paid for multiple wedding planners and now, the courtyard of their family mansion was fully decked out for a wedding with 225 people.

“still,” annabeth muttered. “he’s marrying her. if there was any chance he loved me like you claim, he wouldn’t be marrying her.”

piper sighed. “you got me there,” she conceded gently. “i have no fucking clue why he’s marrying her when he looks at you like you’re his entire world.”

her words make annabeth’s heart twist painfully. “let’s go,” she said, reaching for the door. she was tired of this conversation, she’d already had it time and time again with piper and it always went nowhere.

they barely got two steps out of the bathroom before being ambushed by jason. “there you are! annabeth, percy wants to see you.”

“why? is he okay?” she asked, ignoring the pointed look piper was giving her. 

“he’s just super nervous and he asked for you. he said you’re good at talking him down,” he said. “we only have, like, twenty minutes before the ceremony is gonna start.”

“okay, where is he?”

“upstairs to the right, the room that has the word ‘groom’ on the door.”

annabeth nodded and made her way to the stairs, climbing them quickly and finding the door jason described. she knocked softly. “perce?”

“come in,” he called.

when she entered the room, percy was alone and pacing. he looked devastatingly handsome, dressed in a simple black tuxedo with a dark blue tie. she shut the door and didn’t hesitate to walk up to him and wrap him in a hug.

“what’s going on?” she whispered. percy hugged her tightly and let out a small, shaky breath.

“i feel like i should be more excited than i am,” he said quietly. 

annabeth pulled back to look at him. “what do you mean?”

“like, i feel sick. and anxious. it shouldn’t be like this, right?” he asked, studying her face.

“it’s normal to be nervous. plus, you never wanted a big wedding and i’m sure it’s making you even more nervous because it’s so much bigger than you expected,” she said gently. percy bit his lip and pulled away from her completely to keep pacing.

after a moment, he stopped and looked at annabeth. “what if i’m marrying the wrong person?”

she nearly choked. “what?”

“like, i feel like i’m not as excited as i should be and what if that means i shouldn’t marry her.”

“percy, i don’t think that’s the case,” she said. “you’re nervous and that’s normal.”

he twisted his fingers together and looked down, disbelieving her. annabeth stepped closer and placed her hands on his arms, making his gaze return to her.

“it’ll be okay,” she said softly. “you’ll be at the end of the aisle and you’ll look the love of your life in the eyes and… and you’ll be fine.” she did her best to sound reassuring and confident but it was difficult when you’re telling the love of your life that someone else is the love of their life.

he studied her for a moment before slowly nodding. “okay,” he whispered.

“okay,” she repeated. her hands slid up to his shoulders and she smiled. “you look good,” she said quietly.

that made him smile, too. “thanks. so do you.”

her heart fluttered and she pushed it down. “thank you,” she replied and pulled him into another hug which he returned tightly. annabeth almost felt guilty at how safe she felt in his arms. he was about to marry another woman and yet, he still felt like home to her. “you okay?” she whispered.

“yeah,” he said gently. “thank you. i’m happy you’re here.”

“of course,” she said honestly. “anything for you.”

just then, a knock sounded at the door and annabeth pulled back as percy said, “come in.”

jason peeked his head in. “you guys good?” he asked. “we’ve got seven minutes before you need to be at that altar.”

“yeah,” percy said. “i’m good. let’s go.”

the three of them went down the stairs of the now empty mansion. all of the guests were sitting in the chairs in the courtyard. the rest of the groomsmen were waiting for percy near the door they’d be walking out of to head down the aisle. percy and annabeth stopped there and he looked at her.

“thank you again,” he said quietly.

“of course,” she repeated. percy pulled her into a short hug and kissed her cheek, making her heart jump right out of her chest. “love you,” she breathed, forcing the words to be lighthearted.

“love you too,” percy replied easily, unaware of how much she wished he would say it differently. she gave him one last smile before heading outside and finding piper.

annabeth sat in the empty seat next to her and piper looked at her expectantly. she shrugged. “he was just nervous and i talked him down,” she said simply.

“babe,” piper sighed quietly. “you’re going to regret never saying anything.”

“maybe,” annabeth said. “but that’s my choice to live with.”

after that, they were silent until percy took his place at the end of the altar. almost instantly, he caught annabeth’s eye and gave her a small smile. he looked breathtaking and she had to avert her eyes, instead looking at piper. “this is going to suck,” she breathed. piper took her hand and held it tightly.

the music started and in pairs, the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle, followed by the flower girl and ring bearer. then, the guests all stood for the bride. rachel floated down the aisle angelically, green eyes alive with light as she kept them on percy. 

annabeth secretly wished rachel was some awful girl who was bad for percy or ugly or just unlikable in some way so she could justify her distaste for her. but no. rachel was kind, funny, beautiful, and she loved percy with everything in her. and no matter how hard she tried not to hate her, annabeth really hated her.

when she got to the end of the aisle, rachel’s father kissed her cheek and handed her off to percy who smiled and took rachel’s hands after she handed her bouquet to her maid of honor. as painful as it was to admit, percy looked fine now. happy, even. annabeth squeezed piper’s hand again as the officiant began speaking.

she was only half-listening, her eyes trained on percy the entire time. annabeth idly wondered what she looked like to an outsider right now. she felt like someone could take one look at her and see the anguish in her eyes as she watched the man she loved marry someone else. only when piper squeezed her hand hard did she fully tune back in.

she turned her head to see her best friend’s eyes trained on her. “what?” annabeth breathed.

“babe, you’re crying,” piper whispered back. annabeth blinked and brought her fingers up to her cheeks to find that they were, in fact, wet.

“oh,” she murmured, wiping them away. “it’s fine. everyone cries at weddings,” she shrugged, swallowing hard. piper gave her a knowing look but said nothing else.

annabeth turned forward again and looked at percy. only a moment later, the officiant said, “ if anyone objects this couple being joined together in matrimony, let them  speak now or forever hold their peace.”

a tense silence fell over the crowd and piper’s words from earlier echoed in her head.  _ today’s your last chance. _

annabeth’s lips parted as her mouth fell open with a million unspoken words. this  _ was _ her last chance and she was glued to her seat. even if she wanted to stand up and say something, her voice was caught in her throat and her tongue felt heavy. this time she felt the tear roll down her cheek. 

she wiped it away just as percy turned his head and made eye contact with her. annabeth shut her mouth quickly and held his gaze for a few seconds before she looked down at her lap. piper leaned closer to her and annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wanting this wedding to be over right now.

“what?” rachel’s sharp voice cut through the courtyard. annabeth’s head whipped up. the officiant, the bridal party, and people in the first two or three rows all looked at percy, shocked. but everyone else looked just as lost as annabeth felt.

she watched percy, who looked slightly at a loss for words as he stammered out, “i- i can’t do this.”

it was loud enough for everyone to hear now, resulting in gasps and dropped jaws. annabeth tensed and piper’s breath caught in her throat. “holy shit,” she breathed.

“you- you can’t what?” rachel cried, borderline hysteric. 

percy dropped her hands carefully. “i can’t marry you, rach. i’m sorry.” at that, he carefully backed away and sped back down the aisle towards the house. there was a brief moment where no one knew what to do. half of the guests’ eyes were on percy as he ran towards the house and half of their eyes were on rachel, whose mouth was open in shock as she watched percy. finally, jason broke the silence.

“i’m- i’ll go talk to him,” he said slowly. piper reacted first, pinching annabeth’s arm and something clicked in her head.

“jason,” she said quickly, just as he passed their row. an uncomfortable amount of eyes turned to her but she ignored them. “let me go.”

jason looked at her for a second, then at the house where percy was, then back to her before nodding. annabeth stood, pushing through the few people in their row and stopped in front of jason. "take everyone to the reception room or something. i'll talk to him." jason could only nod again before annbeth was speeding towards the house. she regretted the heels she wore because they slowed her down. the second she entered the mansion, she kicked them off, picked them up, and called, “perce?”

she ran up the stairs and checked the room he’d been in earlier. it was the only place she could think of him being and luckily, that’s exactly where he was, pacing back and forth. she shut the door behind her as his eyes snapped to her.

“percy, what happened?” she asked, dropping her shoes and walking up to him. his eyes were red and it was clear he’d run his hands through his hair several times.

“i… i couldn’t do it.”

“okay,” she said calmly, placing her hands on his arms to keep him from pacing more. “why not?”

percy looked at her for a second, studying her face. she was about to repeat her question when he placed his hands on the sides of her face and kissed her hard. annabeth’s breath hitched and she was stunned for a second. and then, against her better judgment, she kissed him back.

she knew she shouldn’t. but he was here and he’d stopped his wedding and he was  _ kissing her _ . when he pulled back, her eyes fluttered open and she forced herself to remember how to breathe.

“oh,” she whispered dumbly. percy took a heavy breath that ghosted across her lips, giving her half a mind to pull him back to her.

“you said earlier that i would look the love of my life in the eyes and feel fine,” he said quietly. his gaze was so intense and locked directly on hers. “and i was looking at rachel and i didn’t feel fine. but then i looked at you…”

annabeth’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, too shocked to say anything. but she felt like she knew what his next words were.

“that was the first time i felt fine all day.”

“percy,” she breathed. she didn’t know what else to say, though. he pulled her into another gentle kiss, making her head spin. she couldn’t help but notice how right it felt to have her lips against his.

when she pulled back, she immediately wished she hadn’t because he said, “you never said anything.”

annabeth swallowed. “what was i supposed to say? you were getting married and i… i couldn’t take that away considering i didn’t know you felt this way about me.”

he considered this and nodded. “yeah,” he conceded.

“why did you go through with the wedding at all?” she whispered. this was the part that still confused her. the part that had always confused piper, who claimed he was head over heels for her.

“i thought i could never have you,” he admitted. “and rachel… she’s not you, but she’s good. but then i saw the way you looked at me and i realized i was about to make a huge fucking mistake.”

annabeth couldn’t argue there. as kind and loving as rachel was, marrying her while he felt this way about someone else would’ve been a mistake. and the way she felt wrapped up with him now was anything but a mistake. she bit her lip and leaned up to kiss him again. part of her felt guilty but it was inconsequential compared to the pure relief and giddiness coursing through her from finally being able to kiss him.

the doorknob jiggling and a loud knock on the door jolted them away from each other. “percy?” rachel.

panic replaced annabeth’s happiness as she looked at him with wide eyes. his hand ran over the curve of her waist and he kissed her forehead. “go,” he said gently. “i’ll talk to her and i’ll find you after. tell jason to send everyone home.”

“are you sure?” she asked.

“percy!” rachel’s voice was louder and more insistent.

“i’m sure,” he assured her. he was much calmer now despite the very angry woman on the other side of the door. “go, it’s okay. i love you.”

annabeth’s brain short-circuited for a second. “you-” she breathed before pulling him into a short, firm kiss. “i love you, too,” she said when she pulled back. percy’s smile was blinding and had it not been for rachel, who was knocking again, annabeth may have done a lot more than kiss him. 

she left him there, anxiety briefly returning as she picked up her heels before she turned the doorknob. when she swung the door open, rachel looked at her with wide, angry eyes. annabeth simply stepped aside and let the redhead storm in and then she shut the door, leaving them alone. 

she fled down the stairs, pausing at the bottom to slip her heels back on and noticed the courtyard was empty so she made her way to the ballroom where she knew the reception was being held. sure enough, it was full of guests. annabeth found jason almost immediately and he looked relieved when he saw her.

“god, please tell me you worked some magic on him,” he pleaded and annabeth winced.

“not exactly,” she said. “he said to tell you to send everyone home.”

jason stared at her. “fuck,” he breathed. “fuck. okay. i’ll go find rachel’s dad and… tell him, i guess.”

“okay,” annabeth said. “do you know where piper is?”

“table six.”

she nodded and looked at the number cards on the tables closest to her. it only took her a moment to find six where piper sat typing away on her phone. “piper,” annabeth called when she was close enough. her head snapped up and she stood, racing towards annabeth. she took her by the wrist and pulled her out of the ballroom and into another bathroom, locking the door.

“what the hell happened?” she asked immediately.

annabeth failed to hold back a smile. “well, he may have implied that i’m the love of his life…”

piper’s jaw dropped. “oh my god, i should not feel as happy as i do but thank god.”

“i know,” annabeth agreed, the guilt returning. “he’s talking to rachel now and he said he’d find me after. he told me to tell jason to send everyone home.”

“wow.”

“yeah.”

“well, let’s go out there and not look suspicious,” piper shrugged, opening the door.

“oh, yes. we’re very sad about all of this.”

“very,” piper agreed.

they made their way back to the ballroom which was currently being cleared out. jason found them again looking stressed as all hell. “how long do you think he’ll be talking to rachel?” he asked, looking at annabeth helplessly.

“i don’t know. she was pretty angry,” she said. jason sighed, pressing his palms to his eyes and nodding.

“okay. okay,” he said. his hands dropped. “well, you guys are welcome to head home.”

annabeth hesitated. “percy wanted to talk to me again after he was done talking to rachel,” she said carefully. jason’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her and it must’ve clicked in his head.

“oh,” he said. “it might be a while so if you’d rather go home now, i’ll tell him to meet you there whenever he’s done. assuming rachel and her father let him live.”

piper laid a hand on annabeth’s arm. “that may be the best option,” she said.

annabeth bit her lip before nodding. “let him know as soon as you can, jason. please,” she said quietly. she already planned to shoot him a text on her way home anyway but the last thing she wanted him to believe was that she was running away from him. 

“i will,” he assured her.

annabeth took piper’s hand and nodded again, thanking him before they made their way to piper’s car. she slid into the passenger seat and replayed the day’s events in her head and retelling piper the story of what happened upstairs.

guilt faded away eventually as reality set in and she understood him marrying rachel would’ve been unfair to them both. rachel  _ was _ good and deserved someone who loved her unconditionally. it wouldn’t have been fair for her to marry percy, who didn’t love her that way.

“you gonna be okay?” piper asked when they reached annabeth’s apartment. “i can stay until he gets here if you want me to.”

“i’m okay. thank you,” annabeth promised, reaching across the center console to hug her friend tightly.

“okay. let me know if you need anything.”

“i will. love you.”

“love you, babe,” piper said lightly before annabeth shut the door and made her way to her apartment. there was still no text from percy so she took a brief shower and tossed on shorts and an oversized t-shirt that definitely belonged to percy at one point.

she’d just finished eating dinner when there was a knock on the door. butterflies erupted in her stomach as she placed her hand on the knob, turning it carefully. on the other side of the door, now dressed in jeans and a hoodie, was percy.

“hey,” she said, opening the door to let him in.

“hi,” he replied, waiting until after she’d shut the door to wrap her in a hug.

“you okay?” she whispered.

he hesitated. “yes and no,” he answered, making her stomach twist. “i know i did the right thing. and i’m more than happy that i’m here with you now. but i still do feel guilty. i never wanted to hurt her the way i did.”

“i know,” annabeth said, doing her best to sound calm. “she’ll be okay. you did what you had to.”

“yeah,” he conceded. he pulled back to look at her. annabeth’s heart fluttered at the love and adoration he looked at her with. 

“but guilt aside, you’re okay?” she asked, searching his eyes. the corners of his lips quirked up.

“more than okay,” he said, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. annabeth couldn’t help but smile briefly before slowly deepening the kiss. when percy pulled back, he pressed a tiny kiss to her temple. “i really do love you, you know?”

those words left her breathless and she smiled softly. “i love you. i wish i had said something sooner,” she replied.

“me too,” he agreed, kissing her once more. “but we have forever now.”

  
  



End file.
